1-what are taxes?

Rate or sum of money assessed on a citizen’s person, property, or activity for the support of
government, levied upon assets or real property, upon income, or upon the sale or purchase of
goods.

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Taxation is the imposition by a government of a compulsory contribution on its citizens for

meeting all or part of its expenditures

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Excise taxes are based on the quantity, not the value, of product purchased. For example, in
the United States, the Federal government imposes an excise tax of 18.4 cents per U.S. gallon
(4.86¢/L) of gasoline, while state governments levy an additional 8 to 28 cents per U.S. gallon.

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A value added tax (VAT), also known as Goods and Services Tax (G.S.T), Single Business Tax, or
Turnover Tax in some countries, applies the equivalent of a sales tax to every operation that
creates value. To give an example, sheet steel is imported by a machine manufacturer. That
manufacturer will pay the VAT on the purchase price, remitting that amount to the
government. The manufacturer will then transform the steel into a machine, selling the
machine for a higher price to a wholesale distributor. The manufacturer will collect the VAT on
the higher price, but will remit to the government only the excess related to the "value added"
(the price over the cost of the sheet steel). The wholesale distributor will then continue the
process, charging the retail distributor the VAT on the entire price to the retailer, but remitting
only the amount related to the distribution mark-up to the government. The last VAT amount is
paid by the eventual retail customer who cannot recover any of the previously paid VAT

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Taxation has four main purposes or effects: Revenue, Redistribution, Repricing, and
Representation.[citation needed]
 1. The main purpose is revenue: taxes raise money to spend on armies, roads, schools and
hospitals, and on more indirect government functions like market regulation or legal
systems.
2. A second is redistribution. Normally, this means transferring wealth from the richer
sections of society to poorer sections.
3. A third purpose of taxation is repricing. Taxes are levied to address externalities; for
example, tobacco is taxed to discourage smoking, and a carbon tax discourages use of
carbon-based fuels.
4. A fourth, consequential effect of taxation in its historical setting has been
representation. The American revolutionary slogan "no taxation without
representation" implied this: rulers tax citizens, and citizens demand accountability from
their rulers as the other part of this bargain. Studies have shown that direct taxation
(such as income taxes) generates the greatest degree of accountability and better
governance, while indirect taxation tends to have smaller effects.

Withholding tax is a government requirement for the payer of an item of income to withhold or
deduct tax from the payment, and pay that tax to the government. In most jurisdictions
withholding tax applies to employment income.

Corporate tax or company tax refers to a tax imposed on entities that are taxed at the entity
level in a particular jurisdiction. Such taxes may include income or other taxes. The tax systems
of most countries impose an income tax at the entity level on certain type(s) of entities
(company or corporation)

A property tax is a tax put on property by reason of its ownership. Property tax can be defined
as "generally, tax imposed by municipalities upon owners of property within their jurisdiction
based on the value of such property."[28] There are three species of property: land,
improvements to land (immovable man-made things, e.g. buildings) and personal property
(movable things). Real estate or realty is the combination of land and improvements to land.